Green Ink: Climate Compromises and Electric Fords

Crude oil futures are flirting with $58 a barrel amid signs of a gradual recovery in refining, which could could signal the beginning of a demand recovery, Bloomberg reports. Big Oil is ready to pile into Iraq at long last, even though the two big concerns—a national oil law and security—have yet to be addressed, in the FT.

Signs of the times: Ford will re-tool a big SUV plant to make an all-electric Focus, at Green Inc. Nissan aims to beat the Chevy Volt to market with its own 367-mile-per-gallon electric car, in USA Today. Ramping up electric-car production with outside suppliers is tricky and full of pitfalls, explains Earth2Tech.

Let the horse-trading on the big energy and climate bill begin. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman’s ready to offer industries and utilities up to 55% of the carbon-emissions permits for free, in addition to scaling back emissions-reductions targets, Bloomberg reports.

Is that even necessary? A new report from the Pew Center says U.S. manufacturing would see just a modest hit from a cap-and-trade program, much of which could be cushioned with rebates, in Climate Wire. “The bottom line is that fear of competitive harm should not stand as an obstacle to strong climate policy,” Pew says in FT’s Energy Source.